Rider takes Alabama to the brink in NCAA Tournament
2021 was indeed a magical season for the Broncs - and one to remember for all of New Jersey college baseball. Rider (MAAC tournament champs) and NJIT (America East tournament champs) became the first two NJ squads to reach the field of 64 since Princeton in 2016.
After going 5-0 in postseason to win the MAAC, Rider ran into a buzzsaw in host Louisiana Tech in the opener, and the "Love Shack" was anything but friendly to the locals. But the Broncs showed plenty of Jersey grit in Game 2 - standing toe-to-toe with SEC power Alabama. Frank Doelling (a 2019 ACBL all-star and one of the great pitchers in Gens history) dominated the big-school foe into the 7th and the Crimson Tide escaped with a 3-1 win. These Broncs had made the point they CAN compete at the national level.
"Doelling showed why we brought him here, and what kind of pitcher he is," Rider pitching coach Mike Petrowski said. "He stood toe-to-toe with Alabama, and with a few breaks should have beaten them. If he is not a pro this summer, he will be very soon. Just a great kid on and off the field, that nobody has a bad word to say about."
Now the question - where do the Broncs go from here? With plenty of young, local talent - head coach Barry Davis' crew has a chance to make a bigger impact than "just getting there," even though that in itself is no small feat.
"It was a remarkable experience to be able to represent not only Rider, but the state of New Jersey on the national stage," said Doelling, who starred scholastically at Riverside High and pitched a year at Rowan-Burlington before transferring to Rider. "Playing in front of 3,000 fans in Louisiana on that stage felt like playing in front of 10,000 fans. I was waiting for that my whole life, I wasn't going to shy away from the moment."
